Prince of My Heart
by Twilight Solstice
Summary: Ch. 9 “Alright then. You're free of all charges. But in return you have to help us. According to all the records I've inherited by past Hokages you're the only one who can help. Welcome to Konoha Keyblade Master.” Yaoi, multiple crossovers, AU
1. Prologue: A Prince is Found

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, any Disney, Anime or other media. Except for the plot and a few OC's.

(A/N: I'm new to this and this is my first story. I have yet to master anything yet. I hope you like my story. Please no flames. Constructive Criticism is allowed and even encouraged. Story will contain Slash (boyxboy) so if you don't like you are welcome to press the back button and leave. Rating T for now. Might change, not sure.)

**Prince of My Heart**

**by Twilight Soldier**

Life on the islands was a little dull but to a child it was full of promise and adventure. The islands were of course surrounded by an ocean. It's rippling waves and gentle breezes softly touched the shore leaving smooth and untouched sand. There were five islands in all. The mainland housed most houses and contained things such as markets, stores, parks, and little small town businesses. The other four islands surrounded the bigger one, each set at a corner of the mainland, seemingly on purpose. The little islands were occupied by the fisherman, all but one. This island was a playground of sorts for the children of the Islands. Here was where they spent their summers and most of their weekends.

There were however seven special children that deemed the island theirs and in reality it probably was.

Every morning they'd get up, eat breakfast and head off to their special island and meet up with the rest of the children. There they would play the whole day or just relax until it was time to go back home. Day after day they did this and their bond of friendship seemed to strengthen with each passing day.

This bond however was strongest with three of the children. That was because they were brothers. The oldest always made sure the younger ones were save and he appointed himself their personal protector of sorts. The second older brother also took care of the youngest. Both older brothers were always very careful to make sure the baby brother was always fine and no harm came his way. This tended to be a little hard considering the boy was five and the energy in him seemed to rival the sun.

Their baby brother was the sunshine in their lives. The oldest being eight and the second oldest being seven they treasured the baby very much. The youngest didn't care nor did he probably know what his brothers did for him. He enjoyed almost everyone's company. He especially enjoyed his silver haired friends company. The boy was two years his senior but they got along like equals.

Life on the islands couldn't have been any better. And years later the oldest and second oldest would wish that it would have always stayed that way. For even the calmest ocean can unleash the most violent storm. And things do tend to get lost in storms…

Life at Destiny Islands was about to change drastically especially among the small group of friends.

Far away from the islands, worlds away is more accurate, lay a castle. This castle was no ordinary castle either, for in lived a wise, noble and valiant king. Along with a king came a queen and what made them rather peculiar was the fact they were both mice.

In the castle lived other like them as well. A duck, as the royal mage and his sweetheart as the queen's lady in waiting, were among the royal couple's most beloved friends. Another was a knight, who happened to be a dog. Together, with the king's pet dog, they made a strong group of friends.

They were happy but as they soon learned this happiness would not be long lived.

The friends watched as their king and dearest friend paced in front of them. His face set in a frown and kept muttering things that only he could understand. At last he turned to them with a grave look set upon his rather young face.

"I take it you all know about the legend involving a powerful key?" the duck gave a squawk of surprise. He quickly rose from his seat and began his own lopsided pace as well. "Your majesty! You can't be possibly talking about the Keyblade can you? The last Keyblade Wielder died ten years ago! The Keyblade Master brings destruction to all!"

The king, though the serious situation; had to smile at his friend. "Or he can restore world order. And that is my plan." At the inquisitive looks he received the king gave a long sigh before rubbing the back of his head in weariness. "Master Yen Cid came to me a week ago. He showed me the Keyblade Master's face. The boy is so young and…vulnerable. We have reason to believe dark forces know of his existence…we cannot let them corrupt the boy for in his fall, we fall too." Comprehension dawned on the queen's face and she gave a small gasp.

"Love…we cannot just take the boy! He must have family! They would worry and-" she stopped as the king gave her a very sad look.

"If the family knows they might become targets as well. This has to be done discreetly and quietly. He will live here and train. He'll be our little secret okay? No one must know of his existence here. No one." The king sighed and already regretted his actions. "Darling…he'll live like a prince and we can love him like a family would. In the end it will all work out…it has too." the King's words weighed heavily on the group and they could do nothing else but agree.

Tonight they would take the boy and by tomorrow he would have a new home here, at Disney Castle.

The day was over and the group of friends separated and went their own way.

"Bye Kaiwi! Bye Wiku! By Wakka and Tiny!" 'Tiny' gave a small scowl but waved and laughed anyway as the group gave small giggles at the youngest' naivety.

The brothers walked to their homes, the youngest on his oldest brother's back quietly humming and smiling to himself. Suddenly his attention diverted to a shadow his small eye caught. As quickly as it came though, it disappeared leaving the boy quite puzzled.

After they had rowed back on the boats to the mainland, all they had to do was walk. Their house was quite large only because their parents were quite wealthy in their own rite. All boys had their own rooms but most of the time they'd bunk with one another and tonight would be no different.

After hugging and kissing their mother they all raced up to bed and giggled their way to a comfortable position. The oldest were on the sides and the baby in the middle.

The smallest smiled and looked to his two brothers. The oldest's hair was like his own. Gravity defying spikes, which were blonde compared to his own chocolate brown ones. He turned to his other brother and noted his slightly different hair. It was blonde too, just not as spiky as his or the eldest brother. The one thing all the brothers inherited was clear, bright blue eyes. Quickly thinking of something that had been bothering him; he confessed to his brothers.

"I wanna have silver hair like Wiku. His is nice and wavy!" the two eldest looked to one another before laughing a bit. It was true. "Wiku" did have nice silver wavy hair and the strange color did, as strange as it was, look good on the other boy. His green eyes and pale skin complimented his oddly colored hair very well. When older he'd probably grow up very handsome indeed but it's not like they would ever admit this. They'd rather take a giant blitzball to the face then help inflate "Wiku's" already too huge ego.

"We're going to be friends forever wite?" The smallest's voice said, drenched in sleepiness.

"No." answered the oldest. This earned him a hurt and baffled look from their baby. "We'll be brothers forever and that's stronger. Mom and dad said so. We'll always take care of you. No matter what. We promise." The second oldest nodded and the youngest, quite pleased with the answer, slowly drifted to sleep, his child mind on his two brothers and the love they shared.

Soon all three were asleep and that's when the shadow, who was watching them moved.

It stepped up to the children's window and a shape covered in a black cloak could clearly be seen. With skills defined by years, the figure quickly maneuvered the boys so that the smallest was easier to pick up. With one last sigh the figure lifted the small boy and watched as the other two grasped at nothing for a moment before succumbing to sleep again.

He wrapped the small one in a cloak and turned to leave. A faint whisper stopped him though and he looked back to the bed. Blue eyes met his and the figure took a step back.

"Sora? Who are you!? What are you doing-" with a wave of his hand and a firm but gentle command of "Sleep" the boy fell over, tired and dead to the world.

The figure stayed for a second, in order to make sure the other wouldn't wake up. He looked down and softly ran his fingers through silky chocolate brown tresses. "Prince Sora…nice ring to it. Time to go to your new home Prince Sora."

Into the night they left and the promise of tomorrow went with them for when the two remaining brothers woke up, their sunshine wasn't there anymore.

A/N: I'm probably going to change this chapter later. Review and tell me what you think. NO FLAMES.

Things will be more fully explained in later chapters as the story unfolds. I hope everyone knows who Sora's brothers are. I tried being ambiguous and mysterious but I'm new at this so…IDK. The King is obvious too, I hope. He thinks he's doing the right thing and he might be right. IDK.

Till later. Review please.

Twilight


	2. A Promise Not Yet Fulfilled

**Disclaimer**: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, any Disney, Anime or other media. Except for the plot and a few OC's.

**Warnings:** Some obscene language, Slash (boyxboy) later on, some violence later too.

(A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read this story. This is my first fanfic and I'm afraid I'm starting to get Writer's block. You see, I had a notebook with an outline for this story and…I LOST IT! No worries though, I'll just have to tweak things around and eventually get it to where it was going. It will have a solid plot soon…I need at least **five reviews **to post another chapter. They're my energy drinks or cups of sugar needed to continue. Thanx.)

No Flames, Constructive Criticism is accepted and encouraged. Read and drop a review please!

**Chapter One: A Promise Not Yet Fulfilled**

Clear, bright blue eyes took in everything of the magnificent place they had been brought to. Chocolate brown spikes on a small head bobbed around as the child bounced around trying to get a better view of everything.

A chuckling voice interrupted the child's inspection of the place and he turned to the nice person who had brought him here. Admittedly he was going against everything his mother and brothers warned him about but the man made him feel calm and safe and no bad person would make you feel that, would they? Admittedly again; this man did take him from his comfortable bed and his two pillows, AKA his brothers.

"Your name is Sora correct?" the child narrowed his eyes. Even he knew that some stranger he just met couldn't have known his name unless he'd introduced himself first.

"Momma said not to tell some stwanger my name is Sowa. So no, that's not my name!" Sora grinned childishly thinking he'd outwitted the hooded man. The figure merely chuckled. "What shall I call you then?"

Sora frowned. He didn't have an answer for that. _Oh poo!_

"My name is…my name is…" Sora felt like crying. A very small part of him felt trapped and knew the situation he found himself in wasn't good. He wished Cloud was here and Roxas too…they'd know what to do. They lied to momma all the time.

"There, there. I know your name is Sora. Your brother…uh, told me." the figure shifted a little. Sora's watery eyes looked up and surprise lit his small childish face.

"Weally? Why am I here? Who are you…?" the figure shifted once again and pulled down the hood. He gave an amused smile as the small child's eyes grew wide and his small mouth was left gaping.

"My name is King Mickey. You may call me Mickey Sora. And this-" the King motioned all around him. They were currently in his study and he motioned his window as well. "Is my home. We're in Disney Castle. Sora…" he felt a small lump in his throat. "This is your new home too."

Not quite understanding beyond the point that he was in castle now, Sora merely giggled. "You're a mice! King Mouse!" the child giggled some more as the King merely stared unbelievably at the kid. Well, he should have expected this considering the boy was about five.

"Oh Sora…" Now came the hard part. Master Yen Cid came up with this part of the plan and a bit begrudgingly, it was him, who had to perform it. Master Yen Cid was a powerful wizard and being his apprentice for some time, Mickey knew his share of magic. This particular spell wouldn't completely erase the child's memory. It would just make them a bit blurry and seem unimportant. He would need this as an advantage trying to raise the Keyblade Master without said Master harboring any ill will towards him for what he did.

"Woxas and Cowd? My bwothers…" the child seemed to still be tired. Mickey gave the boy a smile.

"They'll be fine. I promise. Just go to sleep. Tomorrow…everything will seem better. I promise." Sora nodded. His weary eyes drooping slightly. He felt arms gather him up and he leaned in to the warm embrace. _Smells nice…sorta like Wiku…_

"Sora…this is your home now. You're a Prince. You're part of this family now. Everything before this…isn't important. Live your life happily and normally. Have sweet dreams…Prince Sora." The King held the boy tightly as his magic gently caressed the boy in his arms. Tomorrow would be a new day…for tomorrow; the boy in his arms would begin his ascent into his destiny. Tomorrow…

Even farther away in a land devoid of any light two figures conversed in shadow.

"What the hell do you mean he's gone!? One simply can't disappear even if he is the bloody Keyblade Master!" one figure said to the other. Dark eyes narrowed and a nasty scowl followed suit.

"I didn't say he disappeared. I said he isn't there anymore. Three guesses as to who probably has the kid now." The hissed answer sent waves of rage throughout the other's body.

"We need that damned brat! We can't go on with the plan if we don't have him! The sooner the better!" dark eyes rolled and a grimace replaced the scowl.

"We could use the time to collect hearts. We need a lot of hearts. In time we'll have the brat but for now we might as well make use of this time. Don't worry. Patience is key. You know that." Rather than agree, the other merely snarled and with a wave of his gloved hand he opened a dark portal. Quickly stepping through he didn't bother giving the other a sign of departure. When he was finally gone the figure smirked.

"Patience is key. The heart of the Keyblade Master is the Keyblade. This should be fun." With a wave of his own hand, the remaining figure quickly stepped through his own portal and left. There were things to do after all…

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**A/N**: Uh…I'm not quite happy with this chapter. Next chapter will be a time skip. King Mickey basically made it easier for Sora to adjust to his new life without really worrying about anything before then. Sora's memory isn't completely erased. Just blurred and pushed aside for the time being.

Yes, I know there are some grammar mishaps. Some are on purpose cuz of Sora. Everything else was done to the best of my ability.

Please review. Remember five reviews before I even start typing the next chapter. I might start my other new story too. It's on my profile. NO FLAMES. Thanx and please review. :3

Till Later

Twilight


	3. Drowning in Memories

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts, any animes, Disney and or otherwise media. I do however own the plot and the OC's that might or might not show up.

(**A/N**: Yeah…I got grounded. No nothing for two weeks so I thought I might as well put this chapter up. Hopefully my parents will forget I've been grounded after a few days or so…highly unlikely but I can always hope.)

**Warnings**: Some obscene language, Slash (**boyxboy)** later on, some violence later too.

**Pairings**: Riku/Sora (yeh ain't changing my mind on this one), a bit one-sided Sora/Kairi, Leon/Cloud and the rest are up for debate…

NO FLAMES!! Constructive Criticism is fine and dandy and will be recieved like candy!

**Drowning in Memories**

**10 Years Later:**

Destiny Islands hadn't changed much in the span of ten years. The ocean was still calm and the sunrises were still beautiful but none of this seemed to matter much anymore.

A boy with soft spiky blonde hair and an ensemble of white and black sat on a fallen tree looking over the ocean. His eyes which reflected the ocean's own blue seemed dazed and distant. His slightly tanned face set in determination as his hand clenched and unclenched; his mind dwelling in memories.

"Roxas." A voice made him look up. His own blue eyes clashed with those of another and the boy let out a small grunt in acknowledgment. For standing next to him was none other than his big brother.

"Cloud." Roxas greeted in the same manner and couldn't help but mentally sigh in irritation as the older boy sat down next to him. "What can I do for you?" Roxas asked dryly knowing he probably wouldn't get an answer.

He was right. Cloud merely rolled his eyes and started to stare out at the ocean's waves.

Roxas sighed and for the first time in a long time really took a good look at his brother. Cloud had changed drastically over the years. Whereas as he once wore shorts and brightly colored shirts, all you'd ever see on him now were dark pants and equally darker shirts. Sometimes he'd wear this horribly clashing scarf, which sometimes gave Roxas the urge to burn. Yes…it _was_ that horrible. It was an everlasting Halloween with Cloud now.

"Riku wants to go explore other worlds. The dimwit thinks he'll achieve this by using a homemade raft—made by children." This snapped Roxas out of his musings and he couldn't help but chuckle lightly.

"Riku!? The Riku!? Who gave him such a dumb--"

"He thinks Sora is still alive and on another world. Kairi inspired his dumb idea." Cloud cut in and turned his head to find his brother biting his lip.

"Oh." Roxas shouldn't have been surprised. Other than them it was Riku who really took it hard after their beloved little brother was kidnapped. And it was well known; at least in their tiny group of friends, that Kairi wasn't from the islands…rather she wasn't even from this world. "Well maybe he has a point! Sora could very well be still alive and someplace else! We could find him--"

"Kidnapped children are often dead within three hours after being taken." (1) Cloud's face darkened ever so slightly and Roxas knew from this point he'd have to tread lightly. "And why would they want a five year old anyway!? To take him from this world to another!? What for!? It's no use Roxas." At this Roxas winced at the stare he was given. "Sora is gone. And he's never coming back. Let's move on with our lives…it's better for everyone this way." The older boy got up and started to walk away.

"But it was you who woke up that night! Can you explain what you saw!?" Roxas nearly screamed in frustration. _Stupid Cloud! He has no idea what he's talking about!_

Cloud stopped walking but didn't turn back. "Stop swimming in memories Roxas." He started to walk again. "You might drown." He called back and didn't stop again. He quickly faded from Roxas' view.

"Memories are all I have left." Roxas whispered and turned back to the sea. One day…He'd see Sora again.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on the island a silver haired boy was pacing across the beach. His footprints washed away by the waves only to be replaced again. The boy's emerald green eyes set in concentration and his hands clenched into fists at his sides. He finally broke his frantic pace only to watch as the sun began to set.

"Sora." He whispered and gave a long sigh.

Even though everyone said the boy probably wasn't alive, Riku knew better.

Something told him Sora _was_ alive; and somewhere out there, waiting.

It'd been so long though…

It'd been ten years since his friend had been taken. Ten long years Riku went without knowing what happened to the blue-eyed, spiky haired brunette. Ten years since Cloud had given a genuine smile. And ten years Riku went without knowing what happened to his best friend.

But if his plan worked…then he'd see Sora again for certain.

But even Riku had to admit that he couldn't remember much about those early childhood days. What he could remember however, was the brunette's smile and laugh and especially the way he made Riku feel.

Happy. Joyous. Content.

Everything a best friend should make you feel.

And Riku was a determined young man. And he was determined to see his best friend again. And this time he wouldn't let him go. Not again. Not ever.

A million stars away, clear blue eyes snapped open in alarm. Panting loudly the owner of the blue eyes sat up, now clearly awake.

That was one of the strangest dreams he'd ever had.

_Was it real? Or not?_

Unlike his other dreams of calm oceans, crystal shores and blue and green eyes; this one by far was the most confusing one yet.

Tanned hands ran through spiky chocolate locks.

_I keep having these dreams…_

A sigh escaped the young man's mouth.

_Young Master…_

"What the heck's a keyblade?!"

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**A/N:** Dun dun DUN! Yep. That's it for Chapter Three.

1) Sadly this fact is true. Most children kidnapped are dead within three hours. That's why a missing child should be reported right away.

The plot is slowly coming together! HA HA HA!!

But if ya read above I'm grounded for who knows how long…so I posted this up! PLEASE REVIEW! Please! Did ya like it? Didya not? Why? Opinions…? NO FLAMES!

Yep. Definite pairing is Riku/Sora…and most likely Leon/Cloud cuz I like that one too…Roxas/?…? Maybe Axel?

Maybe I'll mesh KHI with KHII together…who knows…

Cloud ain't that cold…just a facade to hide the cuddly teddy bear inside!

Cloud: …prepare to die…

Um…okay…?

REVIEW PLEASE!

Till Later

Twilight


	4. Revelations and Lightning

I own **nothing.** I'm not getting money out of this.

**YAOI WARNING:** Eventual **Riku/Sora**

**Same warnings** and junk from before.

PLEASE REVIEW! NO FLAMES!

**Revelations and Lightning**

Disney Castle was a grand place. It's walls were high and painted a bright white while the tops were a regular blue which stood out from the paleness of the whole place. If you were to look at the castle from the outside you'd find it intimidating from the shear size but the castle held no dangerous or eerie feeling. Instead it radiated a calm peaceful one which attracted people from all lands…but only those close to the royal family were mainly allowed inside.

Ah…if the outside was so spectacular then the inside was a grand marvel of wondrous magnitudes! The halls were long and well kept with suits of armor lining the walls. There were dozens of halls and even more parts of the castle. It would take a person several years to look into each and every room and even then they'd find they might have missed a thing or two. For this castle wasn't an ordinary castle. This castle was special.

For Disney Castle was magical.

Every now and then you'd find a broomstick moving and sweeping…_itself_! Suits of armor would move to accommodate those in the halls and some of the more mundane furniture might shift so subtly you'd have to watch carefully.

Even more astounding than the castle were the people living inside!

For almost each and every person living inside wasn't entirely human. There were mice, dogs, ducks, cows, steers and even some cute chipmunks.

Of course there was _one_ human currently living in the magical citadel.

And that human was currently lying asleep in one of the topmost towers completely forgetting about everything…_especially_ his training session…with one magical duck who had a shorter fuse than an angry bull.

He was in for a rude wake up call.

--

"GAH! Where is that boy!?" came a shriek just down the hall from where the sleeping victim lay asleep.

This lovely shrieking voice belonged to none other than Donald Duck, Court Magician and one of the King's closest friends. He held a staff which he was currently waving around imagining how he was gonna pummel a certain boys head ten feet into the ground—

"I SAID EARLY MORNING! _**EARLY! MORNING**_!" the duck let out a string of curse words no dictionary in the world could define. As he approached the door he was aiming for he let out a dark laugh. '_This outta teach that brat--'_

BAM!

And the door was slammed open.

"What--" came a still half asleep voice.

"THUNDAGA!"

"AAAHHHHHHHH!!"

--

Somewhere ten thousand miles away an old lady turned around and looked around curiously. '_That was odd…I thought I heard a dying animal…'_

_--_

Spiky blonde hair blew gently in the wind. The cool morning chill didn't affect the youth who walked calmly up and down the sandy shore. At one point he stopped and turned to the island. His gaze led him to a small opening in the green flora.

That place gave him an eerie cautious feeling.

It didn't help that he was also drawn to the place.

He hadn't entered it in ten years and everything in his being told him he shouldn't break that little record. But there was something—

"Something's going to happen soon." He tried to process those very words that came out of his own mouth. It was just a feeling.

Cloud gave a sigh and then his face shifted back into an emotionless one.

It was just a feeling…it was nothing.

With that in mind the blond continued his walking, his thoughts no longer straying towards The Secret Place.

--

Prince Sora was not a happy camper. In fact right now he was the bloody King of Extremely Pissed Off Town! What was wrong with that duck!? Striking him with lightening! LIGHTNING! Shots of electricity that could have KILLED HIM! And then the damn pigeon had the nerve to laugh and spray him with water in order to extinguish the small flame quickly engulfing his head…

Needless to say right now; Sora felt like going duck hunting…

The duck had at least let him get ready in peace. Sora was now out of bed and standing in front of his rather large mirror. The reflection that greeted him made him scowl adding to the pleasantry that was his disheveled state.

His nightclothes were slightly charred and his usually silky, spiky beautiful hair, which he absolutely loved, was frizzy…not to mention it smelt of burnt jelly. His face was slightly dripping water and his eyes looked they had bags under them…

'_Probably due to those odd dreams…' _he reasoned. They began about a week ago and they always left him so confused. Well, he always had strange dreams, which consisted of some beach, and some boys…most memorable were the eyes. One boy had real pretty green eyes and the two others had blue eyes like his.

Lately though he'd had dreams of being placed on a glass platform. The images engraved in the glass would always change. Like last night they held a pretty girl with violet eyes, which was new, seeing as the platforms mostly held faces belonging to boys…the same ones from his dreams. Either way the dream always ended the same; he would come across a strange key and have to fight his way through a million dark bug-like creatures. Along the way he'd have to answer some questions…like what he was afraid of and similar things like that.

He'd always give the same answers.

Last night though was the strangest. Last night he had to fight against his own shadow which blew up to a million times his size…that ended in him being eaten up by a black puddle of goo.

Sora sighed and ran his hands through his spiky locks. Things had always seemed so strange and out of place. Like no one would tell him where he really came from seeing as he was the only human here…Donald once told him he was just left here. The duck didn't say any more and Sora was too disappointed to probe further.

They called him a Prince but Sora felt anything but. The title seemed so unrelated to him he could only nod and smile when those in the castle addressed him so. The King probably knew how he felt cuz he never addressed Sora as 'Prince' unless he got into trouble or the situation was serious. The King did reassure his stay here was destiny and he was meant to be here, for whatever reason…

This didn't stop his curiosity of the other worlds and the possibilities of where his real home actually was. Maybe it had a beach…it'd make sense…

"Way to put two and two together Sora." He muttered to himself and realizing he dawdled long enough he began to get ready. Once struck by lightning…never again struck by lightning. Or at least he hoped. He always seemed to get on the duck's last nerves.

Not that he didn't enjoy every last minute of it. Heh heh…

"SORA!" a shrieking voice yelled.

Faster than lightning Sora was down the long staircase and into the training grounds where an impatient duck lay in waiting.

--

Somewhere down the hall in a vast study filled with books from all the worlds a lone figure stood looking out his window. He watched with some amused interest as his adopted 'son' tempted to douse his friend with ice cold water only to have his own ruse backfire on him. He watched as Donald then flew into a rage and started to squawk louder as Sora only laughed.

_'Sora…'_

King Mickey gave a solemn sigh. He thought the choice he made so long ago was the right one but with things going on as they were now…the boy might very well be in as much danger as he was before.

The Mouse King knew for a fact that some dark forces might know where the Legendary Keyblade Wielder now lived and that thought alone gripped him with fear. Not only for himself but especially for Sora who had yet to find out his true purpose…

That and every time he looked at the dark sky he could see another star go out and that worried him as well. What was the dark side planning? What had they to gain from making worlds disappear…unless…

"I have to find out what's happening out there." With one last glance out the window he turned back to his study and quickly set to write a letter.

_Dear Sora,_

_It's about time you found out who you really are…_

He quickly finished and wrote another one this time addressed to his wife and beloved friends.

With that done the King gave another sigh.

The road ahead now seemed long…and desolate.

_You are the Legendary Keyblade Master._

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(A/N: Yep. Chapter three done. Next Chapter (hopefully) everything will get more exciting. I have trouble describing things so I hope you all know what Disney castle looks like. Sorry. And up until now i couldn't get a handle on page breaks...maybe i still don't. I loathe page breaks...O0;;;)

Please dear readers, drop a review please!

Did you like? Dislike? Constructive criticism is very much welcomed and appreciated. NO FLAMES!

Heh…not grounded anymore, at least I don't think. They saw me on here and didn't say anything. Oh well…

REVIEW PLEASE!

Till Later

Twilight


	5. Say GoodBye Bright Blue Skies

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing.

**YAOI WARNING:** Eventual Riku/Sora

Same warnings and junk from before…

Thank you so much to those who reviewed.

(FYI: I had no idea what to name this chapter... 0o;;;)

Remember I'm still pretty new at this and yes, there will be grammar errors cuz i can't help it. Thanx.

PLEASE REVIEW! NO FLAMES!

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**Say Good-Bye Bright Blue Skies**

Violet eyes looked out a window as the owner of said eyes quietly sat on her windowsill. Her dark red hair fell to just above her shoulders and swayed gently as the breeze that wafted in from the open window blew softly. She wore a short purple skirt and a white tank top.

She watched the dark night sky and sighed as she saw another star disappear. This was now a nightly occurrence it seemed. She first noticed it a week ago as she stared at the stars, an act she rarely did. Now she did it specifically for this reason…to see if any more stars disappeared.

Quickly getting up from her seat she changed into her nightgown and sat on her bed. Thoughts and ideas plagued her mind right now and sleeping would probably only make it worse.

"Oh Riku…" the girl whispered. Lately her silver haired friend had been hectic and quite determined to reach another worlds via a small raft. Her loyal side had encouraged him and even helped him with the task but inside she knew that a small raft would go nowhere especially another world. She doubted the small thing would even go a few feet before sinking.

Truthfully, she blamed herself for the disappointment Riku would no doubt endure in the end. She shouldn't have told them about her real home, she should have just kept quiet and let the blurred memories vanish from her mind forever.

But she didn't.

She knew the reason for his determination though. That's why she suggested and put forth her opinion. Ever since Sora had been kidnapped Riku had changed. At first it was subtle but over the years she noticed his slight obsession.

He really wanted Sora back.

She did too, more than anything. Sora just had this way of making you feel warm and happy. He was a childhood friend. She also wanted him back for his family. They suffered so much after the boy was taken. Sora's mother, Selene, suffered a long period of depression after she heard what Cloud recounted to them all.

"Sora…" the boy plagued her dreams as well.

She always envisioned him all grown up. He'd be smiling and laughing and ask her to do the same. Part of her wanted to yell at him. Why was he smiling when they were crying? But he always made her feel good—even though she knew it was a dream.

Sora looked really cute too and that thought alone made her blush.

"He's a dream." She chastised herself for having a crush on a reverie.

She chanced a look outside only to snap her head back, as yet, another star blinked out. Something made her feel worried. Stars shouldn't disappear at random.

"_Stop worrying Kairi…I'll always protect you_." Kairi buried her face into her pillow and groaned. Now she was imagining Sora's voice.

She should stop worrying; it was causing her to hear things.

She grimaced and closed her eyes, falling asleep to Sora's light chuckling.

--

Far away in a dark place a few dark figures crowded around a table.

"Dear allies, we have come together to plan our next move. We now have the heartless under our full control--"

"Under your control you mean! Eh? Maleficent? And as for the plan, we keep doing what we're doing! Taking hearts! That's the only way to open--"

"But we need the blasted Keyblade Master too!" a voice interrupted.

The being, now known as Maleficent, rolled her eyes at the bunch of morons before her. Her dark scowl made a few of them scowl in return or just flinch.

"The blasted Mouse King probably has the brat with him. But if I'm assuming correctly, our recent activity has probably driven the mouse from his hole. The brat, out of false bravado or sheer stupidity will probably follow suit. And that's when we get him." She spat.

The others took this into consideration and agreed.

Their plan was slowly coming together…

--

Sora felt nervous. He'd been woken up in the early morning, this time by the Queen herself, and asked to meet in the King's study.

Something was wrong…very wrong. Sora wrung his hands together as he neared his appointed door. '_Did I do something wrong…?' _was his last thought as he allowed himself to step into the vast study.

To his surprise, the King wasn't there. Instead, the Queen, Daisy, Donald and Goofy were there quietly talking amongst themselves and stopping as soon as they saw him.

"Ah, gawsh Sora! Shoulda knocked first silly! A-hyak!" Goofy was the Captain of the Guard. He was a loyal friend and treated Sora something akin to a nephew. The dog hybrid had one teeny minor defect though—he was well, a goof. He was clutzier than Sora, and that was certainly saying something.

"Oh, it's no problem! Come here Prince Sora, we've been waiting for you." Daisy was a duck like Donald but unlike Donald, you could actually understand what she said. She was Donald's sweetheart and when provoked she could be a lot scarier. Sora learned this the hard way.

"Sora." His adopted 'mother' greeted him with a smile. Queen Minnie was quite radiant in her own right. She, like the King, took it upon herself to make Sora feel at home, which he did. They were the parents he didn't have.

"Where's his majesty?" Sora asked, quite uncomfortable with all the attention he was getting. He began to shuffle his feet and gave a nervous smile. The Queen gave him another smile, but this one seemed so—sad.

"He left this for you. Oh…Sora." The Queen handed him a letter with the King's signature and he noticed her hand was shaking slightly. "Wait…? So _he_ left? Where did he go--"

"Just read!" Sora quickly complied not wanting Donald to start yelling at him just then.

"_Dear Sora," _the letter began and Sora felt his heart beat faster for some reason.

_It's about time you found out who you really are…_

_I'm sorry for having you find this out in a letter but strange things are happening, things that I must look into now, or I feel it will be too late. You might have noticed but the stars are slowly going out—one by one._

_This is a problem and one of the reasons for my sudden departure. I can't tell you how sorry I am and in time I hope you find it in yourself to forgive me and hold no ill will towards anyone else, for this was a plan I thought all on my own._

_I took you from your real home ten years ago in the hopes that you'd be safer here, at Disney Castle. In some ways you were but it seems fate has other plans…_

_Sora, whatever you do not try to find your true family. You'll only put them in danger. Please. If not for me, then for them. You have at least two brothers…_

_I've given a letter to Donald and Goofy and they know what to do. Follow them. Seek out one called Squall Leonhart in the place called Traverse Town. He'll tell you what I couldn't write in this letter…_

_You are the Legendary Keyblade Master._

_Be careful in what you choose to do. Dark forces will be after you for what you are, for what you carry with you._

_I love you and take care…we'll see each again._

_Your Majesty,_

_King Mickey_

Sora felt numb. Taken? His _true_ family? Two brothers? The Keyblade? He had to leave the only place he ever called home…

"I understand if you're mad." Sora looked up into the sad eyes of the Mouse Queen who had raised him as her own. For some reason he wasn't mad, merely stunned. Some part of him expected this but it came as a shock anyway.

"Think of it as an adventure Sora! Gawsh! We can have a lot of fun, just the three of us and the lion guy--" Goofy exclaimed.

"LEON!" Donald squawked and gave the brunette a calculating look, "He's right though…"

Sora still felt numb. But he nodded al the same. "So we'll go to other worlds then?" Sora gave a small grin.

"Yep, but we've gotta be sneaky to not disturb the world border--"

"_ORDER_! IT'S _**ORDER**_!" Sora laughed as the exasperated duck began a small tirade. He offered a small smile to the Queen who nodded. She quickly handed him a book with a leather binding. Sora blinked and carefully inspected it.

"What this?" Sora opened the book only to find the pages empty and devoid of any words.

"I am Jiminy Cricket and I will serve as an official recorder for the Queen." Sora dropped the book.

"IT'S A TALKING BOOK!" he yelped, convinced the book was possessed.

"You lack in the apartment upstairs don't you, my boy." Came an amused voice and Sora blinked.

It was a talking cricket.

And it was wearing pants and a top hat.

First a damn key then a talking bug…Sora's world was heading to hell faster than he could blink.

"All _four_ of you shall head to the Gummi ships now. Sora, good luck." The Queen gave them a soft smile as Donald, Goofy, the cricket, and a befuddled brunette all gave bows.

'_A grand adventure always begins with the first step.' _Sora thought somewhat distractedly. He couldn't help the rush of excitement suddenly engulfing him. He was this great "Keyblade Master". Heh heh…wait…? Speaking of which…

"What _is _a keyblade? How do I get it to work?" Donald merely grunted. Sora sighed dejectedly and idly remembered the King's letter.

'_To Leon's house we go!' _he thought giddily. "I'LL RACE YA!" he declared and pushed past his feathery guardian.

"GET BACK HERE YOU BRAT!" Donald shrieked and Goofy gave an "A-hyak!"

Sora laughed. His worries forgotten for the time being.

--

Silver hair blew sharply in the wind. Green eyes narrowed as they neared an opening in the island's flora.

This place had him feeling…nervous. So nervous he had snuck out in the middle of the night to ease his worries.

Not to mention the storm that was quickly descending on the small islands. Riku went to make sure his raft was okay before coming to this place. With a few graceful steps Riku was at the entrance to the dark place. With one last breath he quickly went in and sucked in another breath.

"What are _you_ doing here?!"

--

Roxas wasn't a coward by any means. Anyone who dared even imply it would find themselves with a black eye or a bloody nose. Or have Roxas' wrath placed upon them…

But the thought of stepping into the night's storm had him feeling a bit perturbed…to say the least. This storm didn't look like a normal storm either; rather, it looked alive and very deadly.

Dark clouds and array of dark colors illuminated the night's sky. The wind was somewhat harsh and cold and the usually calm soft waves were pounding the shores heavily as if threatening to drag down the islands into its mysterious depths.

But none of this worried Roxas at the moment. Something else did.

Cloud wasn't in his bed, or anywhere in the house.

His boat was gone too.

'_That idiot' _Roxas thought irritably as his common sense gave way and he quickly jumped into his own boat. '_Doesn't he always say he's the smart one?' _Apparently he wasn't, what kind of sane person would go out for a walk in the middle of a crazy-ass storm?

"Apparently there's more than one lunatic in this town." Roxas muttered as he recognized not only his own brother's boat but two of his friends as well.

He quickly tied his boat and headed to look for the idiots he called friends.

Or he would have, have not ten or twenty bug-like creatures jumped up from the shadows and tried to claw at him.

"WHERE'S THE INSECT REPELLENT WHEN I FUCKING NEED IT!?" Roxas screamed as he unsuccessfully tried to beat them away using a discarded wooden sword he managed to find.

Not two minutes into the fray, one of the bugs managed to grab his only protection away from him. So Roxas did the only thing he could…

He ran. And unfortunately for him, the bugs followed.

"Roxas!" a voice yelled and he turned to see a very pissed of blond trying to ward them off with a tree branch.

"What are you--" Roxas was pushed to the ground and the bugs were suddenly all over him. "CLOUD!" just as he was slipping away two strong arms lifted him up.

And threw him a couple feet away.

"Damn…" he muttered, rubbing his abused butt. "Ever the drama queen…"

"Get away from here! Go find--" Roxas couldn't hear what Cloud wanted him to do because suddenly everything was getting pulled into the storm. Roxas turned around quickly as he heard a scream. It wasn't Cloud's…

"RIKU!" said boy was now unconscious and Roxas made a horrifying discovery. Something dark was dragging the silver haired boy down. He made a crazy, fast dash for his friend only to get there too late.

Riku was gone.

'_What's happening?!' _Roxas thought panicked. The wind had gotten unbelievable stronger and in a matter of a few seconds, he found himself lifted up.

He screamed as the wind brought him closer to the thing that was sucking everything in. He spotted a blond figure and yelled, "CLOUD!"

That got his attention and Cloud quickly set to try and bring Roxas closer to him. Both stretched their hands, fingertips almost touching…

Something hard hit Roxas on the side of his face.

Darkness clouded his vision and he knew no more.

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**(A/N**: Yep. Chapter 4. I personally don't dislike Kairi, from the game, you can tell she and Sora have a close bond and I just tweaked it a little is all. It **won't** be Kairi/Sora. This is **YAOI** meaning _boyxboy_, and so eventually it will have **Riku/Sora. **Though Kairi and Sora will have a very close friendship**.)**

I realized the story was going to slow for my liking so I speeded up a bit. It's a long ass chapter in my opinion… should I continue with longer chapters or shorten them? I still have trouble describing things…;( oh well..

Please **REVIEW! **

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Till Later

Twilight


	6. Between a Rock and a Hard Place

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except the plot.**

**WARNINGS: Eventual Yaoi (Riku/Sora), language, and some other things…**

**Thank you for reviewing. Almost 1000 hits already…do me a favor some of you and REVIEW! **

**NO FLAMES!**

**I would love constructive criticism.**

**-**

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**Between a Rock and a Hard Place**

Space was such a grand place. It was full of planets, stars, and floating rocks…especially floating rocks. There were so many floating rocks, in fact, that Sora was about ready to denounce anything having to do with rocks. Ever.

"Are we there yet!?" Sora asked the ever-popular question you have to ask the people that have to tolerate you thru a very long trip.

Of course, Donald was not a regular 'people'. He was a _duck_. He was the kind of duck that found everything Sora did pointless and annoying.

And asking this question, maybe once or twice might have been fine. But Sora had crossed _that_ line long ago.

He'd asked this question _twice_…every other _**five minutes**_. On a **two hour** trip.

Needless to say, Sora had this coming.

"**NO!!** WE ARE NOT _THERE!_ WE WON'T BE _THERE_ FOR A LONG TIME! WHEN WE ARE THERE I WILL PERSONALLY KICK YOUR ANNOYING BUTT OUT OF THE SHIP! ONE MORE WORD AND I'LL TURN YOU INTO A…_INTO A CUSHION_! THEN I'LL LET A HORSE SIT ON YOU!!" Donald finally snapped. He started to ramble and shriek and Sora could have sworn he heard something about a 'pitchfork' and 'starting a bonfire' or it could have been something else…

"You want me to start farting?" Sora knew he was pushing things a little too far.

"AAAAGGGGHHHHHH!!"

And Donald lunged.

Sora had never seen a scarier sight.

As boyish screams resonated and duck feathers flew a certain dog hybrid sat staring at the ship's controls. He had no idea what the sign blaring '**crash course'** meant and didn't really know how to stop it either.

"Gawsh…you guys? This button's flashin' and I ain't really all smart about things like this, so…uh…guys!?"

"AAHH!! I'M ON FIRE!"

"STOP DROP AND ROLL—NO! FIRE AGAINST FIRE DOESN'T APPLY HERE!"

Goofy's eye twitched.

The confused Captain of the Guard turned his attention back to the controls which were all now flashing little red signals.

He closed his eyes and prepared to start pressing buttons at random.

"A-hyak…hope nothin' really bad happens…"

Twenty or so pressed buttons later…

"WARNING! SHIP ABOUT TO DOCK. PLEASE RIGHT LANDING GEAR! CRASH COURSE TOWARDS TRAVERSE TOWN IN ONE MINUTE…AND YOUR FRENCH FRIES ARE READY."

The boy on the floor stopped his attempt to fling the duck, attempting to murder him, out the ship window. And the duck stopped trying to strangle said boy's neck.

They both blinked and tried to process what just happened.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Donald shrieked at the now nervous looking Goofy.

"Can I have some French fries? I'm kinda hungry…" Sora grinned and rubbed his now sore and hungry stomach.

_(__**A/N**__: It should be a sin to allow people/ducks/dogs who act like this to drive a ship thru space…)_

"NOW LANDING. PREPARING TO CRASH ON PLANET TRAVERSE TOWN. HOLD UNTO YOUR SEATS…YOUR ROOTBEER FLAVORED JELLYBEANS ARE NOW READY."

"**3…2…**_**1."**_

"Oh no…" three voices gulped in unison.

_**BOOM.**_

"Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!"

"HAVE A NICE DAY. THANK YOU FOR FLYING VIA GUMMI SHIP."

--

Traverse Town:

Cid Highwind was having a shit load of a day. Three loud mouth customers have the gall to come into his store and start throwing their no-nothing knowledge of things Cid's been a master at for years, into his face. Cid, being the man that he was, retaliated.

"Lost my best hammer there…" he muttered darkly, "at least it hit that bastard's head…" he ended quite smugly. He rubbed his slightly oily hands on his white shirt and blue plants before running them thru his short blond hair. The straw in his mouth was being chewed at viciously as he re-counted was just happened moments ago.

'_Stupid-ass idiots…_' he thought acidly, '_wouldn't know a fuel gage from a system's check window.'_

**_Ding-dong_**

"Ooh…another customer to cheat." He muttered. "What can I do for you—oh. It's just a kid."

Cid's day couldn't get any worse.

The kid in front of him screamed 'AIRHEAD'. He had a pretty face, Cid give him that. Otherwise though… The boy's hair was a rich chocolate brown and defied gravity—and anything having to do with fashion. The kid's get up was bright and should have been illegal…especially with those big-ass yellow shoes—

"Hey old man! I told you! I'm not a kid!" the brat in front of him must have said something else, as Cid looked him over. Then something clicked.

"WHAT YOU CALL ME!?" ooh…the brat was in for it now!

"_Old man!_ I just asked if you've seen a loud mouth duck whose grumpy like you and a talking dog! My friends! Have you seen them or not!?" the brat demanded.

Did this kid think we was a prince or something ordering him around!? Cid would gladly knock some sense into him…

"Listen you snot-nosed kid--"

"Sora! My name is Sora!"

So the devil did have a name!

"_Listen kid_…I ain't seen no such thing! Get your little ass out of here before I get out my toolbox! Obviously you've never felt a hammer nail your pretty little head!" Cid would have come through with his threat had not the kid shown signs of being mentally challenged.

The boy, Sonora or whatever, actually laughed.

Cid was taught to be polite to people like this so somewhere in the back of his befuddled mind he prayed for his mom's forgiveness.

And for this kid to get the hell out of his store.

"Oh…heh heh…it's just that Donald's already tried that. It did hurt. A lot, actually. I'm sorry for being rude. My name is Pr—er Sora. And I'm looking for my friends. Might you have seen them somewhere?"

Cid was now totally convinced this kid was crazy…or bi-polar. Hell, maybe both…

"Er…no." the boy in front of him gave a sigh and it was just then that Cid realized the scorch marks on the kid's shirt. "Thank you for your time and I'm sorry again." The kid bowed and headed out.

"Crazy kid." Cid muttered. And it was only then that Cid remembered he forgot to warn the brat about the Heartless… "Oops."

--

Tan hands ran through soft spiky chocolate hair and the owner let out a tired sigh. It'd been at least an hour since he'd left Mr. Grumpy's weird store and he still couldn't find either Goofy or Donald.

The last thing he remembered was a loud bang of some sort and the next thing he knew he'd woken up in an alley and meandered his way to Mr. Grumpy.

"I hope they're okay…" he whispered nervously. After leaving the store he had walked out into the street in hopes of maybe running into his guardians but he couldn't even find anyone. The streets were dark and the only light came from lamps hung high on lampposts. The stores and homes around the whole town seemed deserted and empty, except for those few in the front.

A sudden scream shocked him out of his daze. "What!?"

Sora ran to where he heard it and stumbled upon a shocking scene. There was a man and he was being chased by corrigible shadows. Before Sora could so much as even move the man had fallen down and the shadows had descended upon him. In a bright flash, a pretty heart encased in slivers of white and pink light replaced the man. In another second the shadows quickly surrounded the heart and it became no more than another shadow.

Sora gasped.

The creatures, seeming to have heard this, turned to him and began to advance. Sora stumbled back and quickly scanned the area for something to defend himself with. Sora wasn't stupid. He knew the finer arts of holding his own in a battle, seeing as the king trained him at an early age. But even then; He still needed something, a dagger, a sword, anything—

_Keyblade…_

Sora gasped again as a light encased his hand and the same odd key that appeared in his dream materialized. He would have thought this would have made his opponent back off…

But it seemed to enrage them further…

In a quick motion, defined by years of training, Sora managed to block several hits the odd bug-like creatures made his way. He blocked, parried and managed to hit several, making them disappear. "You're those same bugs from my dream…" he realized. In his slight shock two of the shadows knocked his Key out of his hand.

Backed into a corner, Sora hoped his friends wouldn't have to suffer the same fate…

"GUNBLADE!!" Sora opened his eyes to see the shadows about to attack him, being destroyed by a man with a huge sword.

The man made Sora gape. His hair was a dark brown, much like his own, except his was straight down. He had a scar across his face. He was wearing all black, and aligned with the big-ass sword, the man looked down right intimidating. His dark eyes assessing the situation then turned to Sora and seem to look right thru him. After a minute of this silent interrogation the man looked at Sora's discarded key.

A brief look of shock crossed the man's features before he turned back to Sora with a rather disappointed look.

"If that's the best you can do, then we're all screwed."

Sora blinked. "Eh?"

"You have the Keyblade and as long as you have the Keyblade the Heartless will never stop hunting you down."

This man reminded him of a rather dark fortune cookie he once ate.

"What's your name kid?" he asked looking away.

"Sora. Have you seen--"

"Yes. Come on. They're waiting back at the Warehouse. Pick up your Keyblade and hurry up. The Heartless might come back and this time I won't save your butt."

Sora did as he was told. Then a thought struck him.

"Squall Leonhart?" the man's eye twitched.

"Call me Leon." He grunted.

Sora held back a groan. What had the King gotten him into?

--

Darkness. That's all he saw as he opened his eyes. As he yawned and stretched a shiver ran up his spine.

It was hella cold here. Wherever _here_ was…

As he felt his way around he realized he was in some hallway. As he neared a door he saw light and despite his better judgment he made a run for the only light in the damn place.

He came to a stop as he neared closer to the room. He glanced at the darkness behind him and deciding it was at least a shot, he strode into the room.

He didn't expect for someone to be waiting there.

The woman in front of him was exceptionally tall. Her skin was a shade of green and it looked like there were some horns on her head. Despite all this, she made an impression. Her dark black and purple gown encased her in the shadows perfectly. The creepy black bird perched on her shoulder only added to the effect.

Her menacing scowl turned contemplative as he felt her eyes look him over.

"What's your name!?" she demanded in a cold voice.

He hesitated for only a second, "Riku."

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**(A/N:** And that's where I'm ending Chapter Five. Partly cuz I'm hella tired and should prolly be studying for finals instead of this…oh well. :3

I looked Cid up since I didn't know much about him and read he had a problem with swearing…so yeah.

I sorta forgot Leon's attack and what it was called..heh heh…

To me, this chapter was long, partly cuz I'm half dead rite now..._eye twitches_...

As for the story…I will try to make Sora go to the worlds he did in KH1 so not to mess it up. Maybe it'll change cuz I want to make a chapter with Jack Sparrow in it. Yeah, I'll substitute some for other media and animes and junk; I might imply he went to another world (partly cuz I'm hella lazy) and just mention it in a chapter. A little confusing, but you'll see.

(_FYI: The Chapter with the fighting in the Gummi ship was inspired by my brother and dog. My brother felt like being an ass and decided he wanted to get his butt kicked so I accidentally ditched the game control on the floor and started to beat him up. My dog decided to make it a chew toy and crashed me into a huge meteor, surprisingly I managed to save me and not die. I hated the KH2 Gummi Route things. Took me forever! 0.o;;; )_

**PLEASE REVIEW!**

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**Till later**

**Twilight**


	7. Hook, Line and Sinker

**Disclaimer: ****I own nothing**

**Same warnings as before.**

**(A/N: Okay…almost 1600 hits. I seriously need more reviews and feedback cuz this is ridiculous. I can't tell if anyone likes the story or not and if they don't I might as well abandon it. So **_**please review and No Flames.)**_

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**Hook, Line and Sinker**

The place the cold, distant fortune cookie of a man took Sora seemed to take forever to get to. And if Sora didn't know any better he'd swear that they were deliberately taking some long detour meant to delude the imaginary people Leon thought were following them. So by the time the man muttered they were close Sora was pretty sure he could probably navigate perfectly throughout the whole town—alone…and probably blindfolded.

"Here it is." He paused and looked back to Sora who was trying to look past Leon to see where the man had led them.

"So my friends are there?" Sora asked, his tone suspicious and his eyebrow rose. Leon eyed him for a full second before rolling his dark eyes and striding forward to open the door. Sora, believing the man would not likely wait for him to make up his mind, headed straight in—

…only to be tackled out the door again.

"Gawsh Sora! You had us scared to death! We thought that ya had gotten hurt or worse! Hy-uck!" Goofy's worried expression made Sora nod guiltily.

"KNUCKLE HEAD!" Donald squawked but relented and patted the brunette's head. "Worried Goofy there…" he chastised. Goofy chuckled.

"Worried Donald there too ya know!"

Leon, who had gotten bored and rather frustrated during their reunion quickly, stepped over the pile of friends and situated himself by the window—the farthest one from all the people in the room.

"What's with him?" Donald muttered as he got up. Goofy held out a hand for Sora who took it and dusted himself off.

"He's the embodiment of dark fortune cookies everywhere." Sora commented, bringing up his rather pointed conclusion of the man.

A crazed laugh interrupted them and Sora took a step back as a rather petite girl with black short hair sauntered over to them and put her face dangerously close to Sora's.

"Heh heh…that's a rather pronounced deduction of ol' Squall there—" Leon's eye twitched. "My name is Yuffie, and I'm the greatest ninja that ever lived! _And_ you're…too _pretty_ to be a boy." She smiled widely and ignored Sora's sputtering and scarlet face. "So you're the Legendary Keyblade Master then, huh!? Ya look sorta scrawny to take on the thousands of Heartless that wanna steal your heart and beat you to a bloody pulp—"

"Yuffie…that's enough." Sora sighed in relief as the rather forward girl bounced away and his gaze turned to the owner of the soft melodic voice who saved him from verbal abuse.

The woman was very beautiful. She had long brown hair tied into a braid with a large pink bow to compliment her pretty pink outfit. The woman's face was gentle and her marvelous violet eyes reminded him of something…

"Hello Sora. It's nice to meet you." Her voice startled him and he put on a cheesy grin before extending his own hand to meet hers. She had a firm but gently grip and he pulled back slowly. "My name is Aerith." She gave another smile to Donald and Goofy, the latter blushing, before she took a few small steps back. "Come in and close the door. We have many things to talk about."

Aerith's little reminder set everything back to being serious. Leon, who had ignored them for the time being, pried himself from the window and began walking farther into the house. Yuffie followed and Aerith signaled them to come along as well.

"Might as well." Sora sighed and he and his guardians followed them.

--

"Riku."

The boy's sudden confidence made Maleficent smirk. When she had ordered the Heartless to attack the small pathetic island, she had wanted them to bring back one of the Key brat's brother's. But like all the brainless twits that worked for her, they brought back and deposited the silver haired brat, and consumed the whole island in darkness. Now she had no way to lure the blasted Keyblade Master here, or so she thought.

As the boy slept on Maleficent used her dark power to look inside the boy's memories and what she found slightly astounded her.

This Riku knew the brat and even secretly yearned to see him once more; this want and determination could help her greatly if she manipulated the situation just right.

"Riku…" she purred and slightly smirked as the boy grew weary. '_At least he's no fool…' _she thought with a sneer. "You're lucky to be alive my dear boy…the heartless could have easily taken your heart…you're lucky I was there to stop them."

'Riku' looked skeptical. "Heartless?"

"You haven't heard of the Heartless before? Dear me, this won't do." Actually this was perfect. Manipulating an ignorant fool often proved more effective in the long run. Plus it didn't hurt that the boy already had darkness in his heart…a little push in the right direction and this boy could possibly be the key to bringing down that blasted mouse king.

"Where am I?" he demanded. This made the dark witch scowl but the boy pressed on. "And why would you save me…?"

"Oh, don't worry. You'll pay me back soon enough." And just like that Riku went back to the defense. "Quit that. I won't harm you. But…in return I'd like your assistance in something." Maleficent gave a dark smile.

"I didn't ask for saving…wait! What happened to the island!? The last thing I remember is—"

"_Gone_. Sorry boy but that's how it is. Your island is no more and I suggest you try moving on." Maleficent couldn't help the sneer that covered her face.

Riku's already pale face grew more pallid. "Gone!? But what happened—and my friends! What—"

"All their hearts have been taken by the heartless. I doubt any of them made it to safety. The only reason you're alive is because of me." Maleficent was getting tired of this. But Riku seemed to sense the truth in her words and kept silent.

"But…" Maleficent hid her smirk.

Riku's head slowly looked up.

"There is a way for you to save them. But you'd have to do everything I say…and I mean everything."

Riku bit his lip and looked into the woman's cold eyes. He knew that there was something terribly wrong with this woman and even something more terribly wrong with this whole situation. But his friends…Kairi…Roxas…Tidus…even Cloud… Were they all really _gone_? He knew he couldn't trust this woman but if it helped his friends…

"I'll do it."

Maleficent smiled, "Good boy, follow me. There is a lot for me to explain."

--

The back room was rather clustered but comfortable and Sora realized that it led to some halls and other rooms that were located in other parts of the towns. Sorta like a hotel. He looked out the window and spotted the store he went into. Seeing how close they were Sora gave Leon a funny look to which he narrowed his eyes at.

"Sorry I'm late!" came a gruff voice as another door to the side of the room was barged open. "But this kid kept me busy for a while so I had ta—"

In came in the man from earlier…_and_ he was blaming Sora for his tardiness.

The man stopped dead in his tracks and gave Sora a bewildered look before casting Leon a questioning glance. Leon nodded once and Cid quickly slapped his forehead groaning.

"That was my first reaction too." Leon said rather dryly. Aerith though didn't look amused. Her pretty face set in a frown; she cleared her throat and motioned everyone to be quiet. Yuffie however decided to violate Sora's space again and sat down uncomfortably close giving him a crazed look now and then.

Sora gave a nervous grin and nearly molded himself to Donald who was turning red in the face, probably from anger.

"Now, now." Aerith's voice made them stop. "Sora has to be informed. And the King left it up to us. So who wants to go first?"

At the mention of the King, Donald and Goofy straightened up and looked attentive.

"ME! _I DO_! I WANNA EXPLAIN!" Yuffie's sudden loud exclamation made Sora jump. "Please!? I wanna tell him all the gory details and how millions of people's lives are in his hands and if he fails he'll be plunging the world into a perpetual void of darkness effectively killing all the good in all the worlds—"

"Yuffie." That's all it took for Leon to silence the girl.

"Er…what…? Void of darkness…? Millions of people…?" Sora's eyes widened and it was only then that Yuffie decided to look sheepish.

"Don't worry Sora. I have the utmost confidence in you." Aerith gave him a smile before casting a dark glance Yuffie's way.

"Listen kid." Leon sighed. "What you hold is called the Keyblade. It's a very powerful weapon that can be used to either save or destroy the worlds. It chooses it's own Master by picking the individual with the strongest heart; usually this person has little to no darkness in their heart. This though is where it gets dangerous for you. Seeing as you hold the Keyblade all the Heartless will be attracted to you. They fear and hate the Keyblade but that doesn't stop them from wanting to attain the heart that empowers it."

_Yes_, agreed Sora, Leon was a very troubled fortune cookie.

"But being the Keyblade Master has its slight perks. Given how strong your heart is will determine how powerful the Keyblade is. You'll be able to unlock and lock any key, anytime and anywhere."

"Yay." Sora deadpanned. "My fear of locks has now been abolished."

Leon smirked. "But that's also your mission. Using the Keyblade you have to go from world to world locking the World's heart. When this is done, this prevents Heartless from going into that world and destroying and engulfing that heart." Leon noticed Sora's confused gaze and sighed. "Every world has a heart—the heart being that center of that world. When that is engulfed in darkness then the world is destroyed and its inhabitants have their hearts taken."

"Why do these Heartless need 'em hearts so badly?" Goofy asked.

Aerith gave a sad smile. "Their true objectives are unknown but what we do know is that the Heartless, even though they can, aren't acting of their own will. As of now, millions of Heartless are acting on orders."

"Their leader is a dark witch named Maleficent. She's a nasty old bitch. She controls the Heartless and makes 'em destroy all the worlds! We ain't sure yet but she's probably aiming for Kingdom Hearts." Cid spat, clearly angry at the thought.

"Oh." Sora couldn't think of anything to say. "So I have to go to different worlds? And _lock_ them, right?"

Aerith smiled and nodded. "That's correct Prince Sora."

Sora made a small face. "Fine. When?"

"_Now_. Right now. You have to start as soon as possible." Leon left no room for argument and stared down into Sora's crystal blue eyes.

"Right…" Sora gained a determined glint in his eye and Leon nodded, satisfied for the moment. At least the kid was taking this seriously…maybe they weren't that screwed after all…

"After I take a nap."

Leon closed his eyes. Yep. They were _definitely_ screwed.

--

Riku followed Maleficent at a close distance solely because he feared getting lost in this hellhole. Not that the woman's presence was very comforting either…

"Ah…here we are." Riku raised an eyebrow. Before him was placed a large see through ball. All it was missing was some smoke—

Nope, there it is.

Indeed, smoke started to rise from the crystal ball and Riku looked to Maleficent. The witch merely smirked and motioned for him to look inside. He complied and nearly gasped as images began to appear.

The first was of him and Sora as children. They were holding hands and laughing.

The next was Roxas and Cloud talking on their island.

And the final showed the islands being torn and ripped apart by some giant shadow monster and then being engulfed by some dark hole.

"Believe me now?" Maleficent asked. Riku idly nodded. "Good… I couldn't help but notice that boy you were holding hands with…was he your friend?"

"My best friend. He was taken from me." Riku let out.

"Really now…" Maleficent inwardly smirked. Just a few choice words and this boy could be her next puppet. "If there was a way to find him, would you do anything to achieve it?"

"Anything." Riku repeated.

Suddenly the image began to shift again and this time it showed a brunette boy walking alongside a girl with short black hair.

Riku sucked in a breath.

The boy had chocolate brown hair styled into gravity defying spikes. He was slender and his skin was a rich tan. The boy turned to look back and Riku got a look at his face. Crystal blue eyes danced with laughter and Riku felt his heartbeat quicken in…something he had never felt before. This new feeling felt good and he savored the last few moments of the image before it faded once again.

Maleficent smiled as she looked at Riku. The hungry glint in his eye didn't escape her and she had to restrain herself from laughing. This was too easy!

"Sora…" he whispered. "You're alive…?"

**Hook**

"Yes he is. Been kept in a castle for most of his young life. The thief who took him even had the gall to erase the poor boy's memory."

Riku snarled at this.

**Line**

"If you help me achieve my goal then I shall reward you by giving you anything you want. _Anything_." Maleficent purred.

Riku smirked. "Sora. I want Sora."

Maleficent inwardly laughed. This boy was her's!

**And Sinker**

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Please review, NO FLAMES


	8. First Comes Darkness Then Comes Fire

_**Sorry it took so long to update! Thank you so much to those who reviewed! I'm glad you like this story.**_

I do have a plausible excuse for not updating though. I went on vacation and couldn't really update seeing as they only let me on for ten minutes. And then my cousins came and I had to spend all my free time with them and now I'm leaving again. So I'll update this as soon as possible. There's more info on my profile. I put up a little notice, and I did it now cuz im not sure ill have time to put it on later seeing as im leaving soon and there are things to do!

_**Please Review if ya want me to keep going for this story! No flames!**_

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**First Comes Darkness Then Comes Fire**

The place where he had found himself was dark and it seemed a bit forlorn and downright creepy. Despite his instinct to turn around and walk the other way, Sora continued on forward, his curiosity driving him further into the darkness. Time seemed to stop as he found himself walking deeper and deeper into something he couldn't even see. At one point he stopped, somehow knowing he needed to, and simply waited.

Some part of Sora knew this was a dream of some sort but he couldn't will himself to wake up, let alone know if he actually _could_ snap out of whatever trance or haze he had been caught in.

So Sora waited…and waited.

After about a minute (which felt longer in the dark) Sora felt himself growing agitated. "Well…this sucks." He muttered and slightly winced at the sound, as quiet as he said it, the small sound seemed to echo around until it died down. Not knowing why he was afraid of the noise Sora kept quiet.

This whole place was unsettling and just as he was about to try and wake up a small quiet whisper stopped him.

"…_Sora…?"_

The key-bearer frowned and slowly turned around.

Nothing.

"Whose there!?" Sora's winced as the noise echoed again and his body shifted into a defensive stance automatically.

"…_it's so dark…"_

Sora frowned and eased up a bit. Whoever was here obviously felt as uncomfortable in the darkness as he did. "Where are you!?" Sora called out and tried hard to not let the sound bother him.

There was no answer for a while.

"…_I don't know…"_

It was only then that Sora registered the voice to belong to that of a girl seeing as the tone was soft and feminine. It sounded scared.

"_Do you have some sort of light with you?"_

The question caught Sora totally off guard and he blinked. "Huh?"

"_Everything is dark…but you seem to glow. Sora?"_

"How do you know my…name?" blue eyes narrowed and he whipped his head around and slightly huffed as the only thing he could see was darkness.

"…_It's…hard to say…"_

The voice seemed unsure and Sora couldn't help the suspicion that crept up behind his thoughts. "How so!?" He winced at the edge his voice took.

"…_You're…a memory. I can't stop thinking of you. You're everywhere…"_

Sora blinked and tried to look down at himself but his own outline was barely visible. "Everywhere…?" he muttered.

_"I'm not sure what happened but I wasn't always like this…Sora!?"_

Blue eyes snapped up at the urgency of the voice and he let out a frustrated growl at being able to see nothing.

_"You have to help me! I'm not sure how or why but I know…"_

"Know what!? Er…_voice!"_ Sora had no idea what to call this strange being talking to him. "Er…_Miss_!? Help!? Wait! Know what…!?"

"_I know Sora…we're connected. Help me, please."_

'Connected…?' Sora thought. "Fine. I'll help you but I'm not sure—"

"_Sora! Use your heart! There's nothing you can't do if you follow your heart."_

"But! That's…that's not helpful at all…" Sora grumbled and instinctively placed a hand over his own heart. The voice laughed sweetly and Sora blushed as he felt his heart accelerate at the noise.

"…_Sora…don't ever change."_

Sora was about to ask what that meant when he felt a pull. It was a strange feeling and he tried to fight it. It felt like he was being pushed upwards. The darkness seemed to lighten until it became a hazy pink…maybe a red. He struggled and then gave a loud gasp as something cold and absolutely freezing spread throughout his whole body.

"AAAAHHHH!!" he felt his mouth being closed and he leveled his worst glare on the owner of the hand that kept him quiet.

Leon.

…Go figure.

"You scream like a banshee." The brunette on top of him noted dryly. "Not one sound." He warned and squeezed his hand covering Sora's mouth. Sora, still glaring, could only nod. Leon narrowed his eyes and hesitated before he let go and got off the younger brunette in one move.

Sora rubbed his jaw and scowled. "Why did you—" Sora felt himself shiver and looked down.

He was soaked.

"You wouldn't wake up any other way and your duck friend suggested it." Leon explained even as he moved away and stood next to a window. Sora gaped for one second before he narrowed his eyes and looked around the room. Smothered laughter brought his attention to a corner of the area where he saw Donald practically turning purple from all the laughter he was trying to stifle.

Eye contact seemed to break the duck's last resolve as he exploded into loud cackles. Goofy, who was sitting next to said duck, merely kept on smiling in his own carefree way and merely waved as he spotted Sora's stare.

"Morning Sora!" he giggled. "Have a nice nap did ya!?"

Sora secretly vowed to get revenge on Donald later and possible Leon too. "Yeah…nice nap." Sora rubbed the back of his head. "Or it _was_." He muttered darkly.

"Why?" Leon spoke up suddenly. Sora rose his head to stare at the man who had his back to him.

"Huh?" blue eyes blinked. He watched as Leon's fists clenched.

"Why?" Leon repeated and Sora found it fascinating that the man was keeping so cool when his body language said otherwise. "Why was the Keyblade glowing? What were you dreaming about?"

Oh. Sora lifted his hand to summon his new weapon, when he quickly changed his mind. Then he registered what was said. "Wait…I was _glowing_?"

Leon turned around then to give him a dry look. "No. I said the Keyblade was."

Sora flushed for an unknown reason and laid back again. "Oh…well…the dream was pretty weird but no weirder than any other dream I've had these past years…months."

From the corner of his eye he saw Leon frown. "What was it about?"

Sora pretended to concentrate. "I was somewhere dark and then a voice started to talk to me. It seemed sad…er, I mean, _she_ seemed sad. She said she didn't know where she was and she wanted help." Sora let out a few parts but it's not like Leon would need the _whole_ version, right?

"I see." Leon muttered loud enough for Sora to hear. "Just ignore these dreams then." He then turned back to the window. Sora's slightly closed eyes snapped open and he quickly got up to face the man's back.

"What!? What if she really needed help or something! I can't just leave her! She's clearly in need of help—"

Sora 'eeped' slightly as Leon quickly turned around. The look on his face didn't exactly say he was…happy.

"Cut the 'must save the damsel from distress' crap! Look at this logically kid!" Sora frowned. "The heartless know you're the Keyblade Master now and so will that witch by now too! It's highly within her power to do something like this! Trick you!"

Sora's hand found a way to his head as his eyes widened. "She can get into _my head!_?"

Leon smirked apparently satisfied with the brunette's reaction. "Probably do more."

Sora face faulted as he thought back to the nice, soft, feminine voice, which in his mind quickly formed to that of a harsh raspy one belonging to a face full of warts and wrinkles. He made a face and looked back to Leon who was still smirking.

"Point is…" Leon frowned, trying to look serious again. "Is that you can't trust things like this so easily. Be decisive and smart about the way you do things. Think things through before—"

"But I sorta promised her I'd help." Sora cut in sheepishly.

"Before going and doing something stupid _like that_." He finished with a glare.

Sora nodded and after promising to not do something irrational again he headed out of the room Leon was currently boiling in and stepped into another one. He was hoping to run into the pretty girl from earlier and ask her a vital question and hopefully avoid the other one. His feet took him into another room where there was a balcony attached to the large windows within. To his luck and relief, Aerith was there.

As he made his way in she turned and gave a soft smile. "Prince Sora." She greeted sweetly.

Sora tried not to ruin the moment by wincing and merely gave a cheesy smile. "Hey Aerith…?" he put both his hands behind his head trying to look nonchalant.

He had a question and hopefully she could answer seeing as her and Leon seemed close.

She smiled. "Yes Prince? Is there something wrong?"

Sora sighed. "Why doesn't Leon like me all that much?" he questioned.

Aerith blinked and looked confused for a second. "Why would you come up with that conclusion?"

"Because his lovely voice is always screaming at me." Sora muttered and perked up slightly as she laughed.

"Sora, honey, you have to understand that Leon is a complicated man and takes what he does seriously. He doesn't want a repeat of what happened in the past so he enforces that on everyone. Don't feel singled out. You can ask anyone here and they'll tell you that they've been on the receiving end of Leon's icy composure." Aerith's soft eyes bore into him and he swallowed.

"He's not icy…he's downright glacial to me!" Sora complained softly, not wanting to yell, especially at Aerith.

Aerith gave him an encouraging look. "Don't worry Prince Sora. Things will work out. Just try to be a bit more…focused." she smiled again.

Sora grumbled. "Fine."

The day was over quickly and due to the decree of the _dictator, _Leon, Sora and company were to leave that very night. They stocked up on potions, ethers and anything else Leon and Donald thought necessary. Goofy and Donald were even treated to new, slightly more powerful weapons courtesy of Aerith and surprisingly Cid who did nothing but grumble most of the time. The man though, updated and filled the Gummi ship with fuel and added a few more weapons to it. Donald seemed pleased but all the charity made Sora uncomfortable and he kept blushing all the while. It only made it worse as they were about to leave, the group of three was handed a decent amount of munny.

"Spend it as you see fit." Leon declared but gave Sora pointed look anyway.

"Yes sir." Sora saluted, entirely focused on not retorting.

"Good luck Prince Sora. Donald, Goofy…come back soon." Aerith smiled and hugged each of them. Donald turned bright red and Sora snickered.

"Wait till Aunt Daisy hears about this." he snickered some more. Donald widened his eyes and turned an icy dry glare to the chortling brunette.

"You wouldn't dare." The duck squawked darkly.

Aerith seemed unaware or was ignoring them as she stood back and just smiled.

"Good luck pretty boy! Bye Goofy! Bye-bye goose!" Yuffie laughed maniacally as she tilted her head up and put both hands on her sides.

"Yeah…bye." Sora muttered as all three of the group discreetly scooted away from the deranged ninja.

Cid was smoking now and he puffed out some smoke. "Don't die." He offered and sauntered off somewhere else giving a slight wave of his hand as he walked further away.

Leon grunted and Sora internally sighed. "Yes?"

"Good luck and remember what I told you. Your fighting wasn't half-bad but you could use some work. Come back and I'll show you how it's done." There was a ghost of a smile on the man's face and Sora blinked before nodding eagerly. Leon rolled his eyes but his hand went to fetch something out of his pocket. He quickly put it into Sora's hand and walked away.

Sora looked down to see a small polished green tinted stone in his palm. "Leon!? What am I gonna do—" Sora looked around for the man.

But Leon had already left.

"Come on Sora!" Goofy called out and with another sigh Sora stuffed the stone into his pocket and followed after his companions.

--

Groaning.

He could hear groaning. Whoever it was, sounded like they were in pain or something. After attempting to move his tired limbs he came to an unsurprising conclusion.

_He_ was the one groaning.

After trying to swallow using his rather dry throat, blue eyes slowly opened. He slowly looked around. The place he found himself in was quaint and seemed rather homey. The fire located in an odd chimney off sorts was burning brightly and he moved his head just a little and noticed he was on a bed.

Someone had obviously put him here.

Groaning, _again_, he lifted himself up into a sitting position and rubbed his still drowsy eyes.

What had happened? And where was he?

Grunting as he searched for answers, he tried to recall his last memory. There was a beach, Cloud was gone, odd bugs attacking him and then Riku disappeared into a puddle of goo…

"OH SHIT!" he screamed as he remembered exactly what had transpired. The island had been ripped to pieces and everything was sucked into some sort of portal.

Including him.

"Oh crap..." he muttered as he got off the bed and detangled the bed sheet away from him. He stumbled as his limbs protested being treated so and he barely made it to the fireplace when he couldn't go any farther. He tripped and caught himself, using the odd stove/fire place as support. He couldn't stop groaning…

"You okay there kid?" a voice asked.

He groaned again. "Not at all…my freaking body isn't—"

Blue eyes widened as he registered that there was no one else in the room except him and the cozy warm fire, which had eyes and a talking mouth…

"OH SHIT!" he scrambled away only to trip backwards and land on his sore butt. Strangely this reminded him suddenly of Cloud and that made him shiver—in a bad way.

"Cold or something?" the fire asked as it reached, _reached_ for a log beside it.

"I'm mildly disturbed. I think I'm in shock." The fire chuckled.

"Strange kid." It commented. "Not the first time we pick up strays…even odd ones like you. So tell me kid. What were you doing floating up in the middle of nowhere?" it seemed to chew on the log as the flames themselves consumed it.

"Floating…? Where am I?" he looked around again and eyed every possession suspiciously. The fire seemed to notice and chuckled some more.

"In a floating castle. Howl's to be exact. Now answer the question." The fire flared for a second. "And maybe get some water. You sound horrible."

Eyeing the sink even more suspiciously blue eyes narrowed. "The water won't protest being drank?" he continued towards the sink and pored himself a glass but wouldn't drink until he was answered.

"I don't think Howl would go that far." The fire explained and watched as he drank the whole thing quickly and pored another one and downed it just as fast. "Name's Calcifer by the way."

Blue eyes blinked. "Er…I'm Roxas."

The fire, having no eyelids, seemed to blink before they became wide with laughter. The whole hearth blazed up as 'Calcifer' laughed. "YOU'RE NAMED AFTER A ROCK'S _ASS_!?" it bellowed still laughing.

Blue eyes blazed as they narrowed angrily and somewhat annoyed.

"I don't see what's so funny." Roxas glared. The fire kept chortling.

"Oh lighten up!" it retorted before pausing and then laughing wildly again.

"Now what you psychopathic fire!?" Roxas grit out.

"_Lighten up_! Don't you get it!?" Seeing as Roxas didn't even blink the fire gave a few more laughs. "I'm a _fire_! Lighten up! Don't…ya…get it!?"

Roxas merely gave it a dry look and Calcifer waved it off dismissively. "Ah, why am I trying? After all you're named after a rock's ass, it means you're bound to be a little _thick!_" it began to laugh again and Roxas let out a growl.

"That's it." He muttered darkly. He made his way back to the sink. He filled the cup full of fresh water and smugly walked back to the fire.

Calcifer was about to keep laughing until he spotted what was in the blonde's hands. "Oh no! What…what're you doing!? Keep that disgusting liquid away! You better be bringing that thing over here to drink it!"

Roxas smirked and kept the glass relatively close. "You were saying?"

The fire 'hmphed' and glared. "Dirty playing." It announced.

"Pft. Whatever. Now where am I?" Roxas sat back into a chair that was near the hearth. The fire rolled it eyes.

"I already told you kid. Howl's castle. Um…I guess its Sophie's now too then…" Calcifer seemed unsure and glanced at the blonde.

"Whose Howl? And…Sophie?" They were strange names, Roxas thought.

"Nope! Now it's your turn blondie! Floating, why!?" the fire demanded.

"I'm not sure. My home, my island…they're gone." Roxas whispered. This sudden shock made him tremble and he closed his eyes and put his head between his hands.

"Back to square one I see." He heard Calcifer mutter. "Cheer up kid. Things can't get any worse…but knock on wood just in case."

Roxas slightly opened one eye and glanced to the smug fire. "I lost my brother, my family and all my friends."

Calcifer gave him a sad pout. "If you cry please remember to keep the tears safely away from me…ya know? Just in case."

"I'm gonna try my hardest to cry a river on you!" Roxas growled and straightened up. "How long was I out anyway?"

Calcifer chuckled nervously and Roxas smirked. "Well…I came to visit five days ago and you came on in on my third day so you've been out cold since two days ago." Calcifer seemed to sniff. "And a shower might kill me but it could do wonders for you."

Roxas looked down at his disheveled self and scowled.

"You little—"

At that moment Roxas heard a door slam open and he quickly snapped his head to the direction of the noise.

Three people were coming up some steps, steps that Roxas hadn't paid any attention to, and as they reached the top all of them met his eyes.

There was a boy, probably younger than him, with dark almost blue hair standing behind a young woman and a rather tall man. The woman had gray silver hair that went just past her slim shoulders. Her face though, was young and immensely curious. Her hazel eyes took him in just as he did her. After a minute he looked to the man who wasn't eyeing him anymore and was rather looking at the sheepish looking Calcifer.

"Now dear friend, weren't you going to inform me of when our guest had awakened?" the man's voice was suave and Roxas flushed as he found himself wanting to hear it again.

Roxas looked him over too. He had dark hair and a pale slightly peachy complexion. He was rather tall and slim and his eyes were a crystal blue. Roxas felt his face getting hot so he turned and pretended to stare at Calcifer as well.

"Well…" the fire began. "The kid was kinda funny. Say's his name is Rock's—er…" apparently Roxas's glare worked this time because Calcifer stuttered. "Roxas. His name is Roxas and his island blew up or something."

The man seemed to brighten up. "Blow up you say?" he directed this to Roxas who willed his face to turn back to normal.

The girl beside him giggled and he was pretty sure he'd given red a new shade.

"Actually it was sucked up in a dark hole after our island was attacked by some black inky bugs." Roxas rushed out and avoided the other's inquisitive stare so he missed as they narrowed.

"Really now?" the man purred. "What do you make of this Calcifer?" he asked the fire.

"I think maybe. _Maybe_ there's a connection. But the kid's an oddball." Roxas huffed.

The man chuckled. "Oddball? I guess that qualifies him to join this family already. What do you think Sophie dear?" the young woman beside him eyed Roxas again.

"Only if he wants to. Hungry?" she asked. Roxas didn't need to answer; his rumbling stomach did it for him. The girl giggled again and rushed off, presumably to get some food. "Thanks." Roxas muttered shyly. The boy quickly joined Sophie. The man however quickly set to eyeing him again.

"Roxas." He tested the name out and Roxas flushed again as he saw the man's mouth move to form each letter. "Roxas. Come and sit." he motioned the table and Roxas shyly nodded and obeyed.

"Uh…Howl?" Calcifer asked.

"What is it Calcifer?" Howl settled himself into a chair.

"I think you broke him." Roxas choked on nothing and was glad that the man didn't seem to notice, that or he was being ignored.

"How so?" the man now known as Howl raised an eyebrow slightly, keeping his face cool and calm.

"Well…before you came he was threatening to dump some water on me. Now he looks like a kicked puppy. You broke him." Calcifer noted.

"Shut it you!" Roxas grumbled.

"Dump some water on you…?" Howl repeated. He faced Roxas. "Why didn't you go through with your threat?" he asked.

Calcifer blazed and began to grumble and mutter. Sophie came back and asked what was wrong.

"Stupid wizard is a crack pot! Hit him for me won't you Sophie? The blonde too!" Howl gave a chuckle as Sophie merely rolled her eyes and went back to fixing the food.

Howl then faced Roxas, his expression cool and collected. "Inky bugs you said. Please explain."

Roxas found himself revealing everything, starting with his baby brother. He had a horrified feeling at this but he kept it in the back of his mind. He explained what happened to the island, trying to give every detail he could possibly remember.

Howl kept quiet and merely nodded sometimes, never disrupting the flow of the story, he didn't even complain as he explained about his precious brother.

"And that's it. And then I'm here wondering if I'm losing my grip on sanity." He breathed. Howl kept quiet and seemed to be thinking.

"Hmm…I'm sure you will be reunited with both brothers soon enough. Lost things have a way of coming back to us in the end. Be patient." Howl told him.

Roxas nodded. "Why did you want to know about the bugs?"

Calcifer made a noise of protest as Howl opened his mouth. "It seems we have a pest problem here too. But now I know more than I did then so I'll have to adjust my magic and see what comes of it."

"Magic?" Roxas squeaked.

The shock seemed to have worn out by then. Roxas looked around the room one more time before his eyes slid to the back of his head and he fainted.

"Hmm…he really must have been in shock!" Calcifer mused as he watched the fallen boy. "Or it must be a blonde thing."

Howl gave a small smile before he stood up. "There's work to be done. Fill him in after he wakes up again. He might just be able to help us after all."

"Sure thing." Calcifer rolled his eyes and eyed the unconscience blonde. "Big help he'll be."

Howl strolled towards Sophie, gave her a peck on the cheek and headed towards the door. He switched it to black before going outside and shutting it.

There was work to be done.


	9. In the Land of Fire and Icy Meetings

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing cept the plot!

**Warnings:** Yaoi (boyxboy), swearing and other things!

**Pairings:** Eventual Riku/Sora, And the following may change: Sasuke/Naruto, Kakashi/Iruka and some others which I have yet to figure out...heh.

**A/N:** I have not updated in like over a year! I'm so sorry! I don't intend on abandoning this story! :D Sorry! I'm sorry if this seems kinda rushed!

**Important:** I'm making most of the worlds AU! (probably all of them!) Since I'm adding some yaoi here and there and I changed some situations in order to help Sora and the plot.

**Please review** (instead of just story alerting!)

**No Flames!**

**Sorry if some of the characters seem OOC!  
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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO REVIEWED LAST TIME AND THANK YOU FOR BEING SO PATIENT! 3

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**In the Land of Fire and Icy Meetings**

"So...where are we going?" Sora asked, bored beyond belief, as he leaned back into his seat, his arms crossed at the back of his head. They'd been traveling for a few hours now and the map hadn't showed any signs of some other world...not that Sora was complaining much about _that_ part.

Goofy turned to look at him from his own seat at the front of ship and gave a warm smile, "I dunno, but golly Sora, maybe we should use the Keyblade er somethin'! Didn't Leon say somethin' bout that?"

Sora tried his best to keep a straight face, "I don't know. Hey, Donald? Did you ever hear Leon say something about using the Keyblade?"

"No." the duck deadpanned and Sora could see that Donald was almost falling asleep at the wheel, the duck's eyes opening and closing while his head kept nodding off. Sora felt a grin form on his face as a fun idea popped into his head. He got up and slowly made his way up to the two driver's. Goofy looked confused but did nothing to stop the young prince from sliding beside Donald. Sora tried to look as innocent and genuine as possible when he tapped the duck's shoulder lightly.

Donald slowly turned to look at the brunette with one eye slightly twitching, "What do you want?" the duck asked suspiciously as he gripped the wheel tighter.

Sora merely tried to enforce more of his innocence into his expression, "Nothing... It just seems that you're tired is all..."

Donald's eye twitched faster and Sora tried not to laugh, "'M not tired! I'm...just..."

Sora's face broke up into a wide grin, "Let me drive and you can rest!"

Donald was about to nod when he seemed to absorb what was being said and his eyes widened in comical horror before he straightened up and pierced the brunette with a strong look of 'STAY AWAY'. The duck, if possible, gripped the wheel harder, "NO!"

Sora pouted, "But driving when you're tired is very dangerous..."

"Letting _you_ drive is infinitely worse!"

"Is not! Come on Donald! Maybe we'll have better luck if I drive! I am the Keyblade Master after all!"

Donald's eye began to twitch again, "Keyblade Master or not you can't even handle a simple toaster without catching the majority of the room on fire!"

Sora felt his face burn, "That was like, three years ago! Please Donald!? I'll be careful! And only for a little awhile!" Sora tried to grab the steering wheel while simultaneously trying to edge onto Donald's seat. The duck didn't appreciate this AT ALL. He began to squawk and yell and tried to push the brunette away. Sora was just as stubborn as he held on tight and tried to push Donald as well.

Goofy just sat there and a small voice in his head warned him to put his seat belt on, so he did. And then he went back to watching both the duck and brunette pull feathers and hair as they tried to claw each others eyes out. The humanoid dog then glanced over at his own steering wheel, then back to the fight, then back to steering wheel, and then back to the fight.

"Uh... guys? Woulda it be easier if both of ya drive...? There are _two_ steering wheels after all..."

Goofy's genuine solution to the problem was drowned out by a particular loud screech of Donald's followed by Sora's yell.

Goofy sighed, "I wish ya'll didn't fight so much..."

"GET OFF ME YOU BRAT!"

"LET ME DRIVE THEN! I'M PROBABLY BETTER THAN YOU ANYWAYS!"

Goofy sweat-dropped as he felt the ship rock dangerously to it's side before seeming to fly in sporadic patterns. It bobbed upside down before turning sharply and almost sending the poor dog humanoid flying across the ship and he vocally praised the voice in his head for reminding him about his sealtbelt.

"Uh! Guys!?" he turned to look at his companions only to realize they were still fighting and apparently having no idea that they were were about to kill everyone present.

Just then, however, the ship's map started to blink and flash a small light signifying that they were close to another world now. Both Donald and Goofy paid no attention to it however...

Goofy was about to risk being thrown across the room when he saw Donald finally succeed in throwing Sora off of him. The only problem there was that the brunette had landed on the control panels and Goofy heard a loud 'clink!' and looked to where Sora had landed. The button was now flashing red with the words 'EJECT' lighted up.

"Umm...oops?" the brunette flushed.

"GAH!" Donald screeched before throwing Sora to the ground and trying to fix the situation. "Not good! Not good! Not good!"

"What's happening!?" Sora looked slightly guilty and Goofy couldn't help but frown.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE! THAT'S WHATS HAPPENING!" Donald screeched and Goofy saw that the duck had given up on trying to override the initial command of 'eject' and was now randomly pressing buttons and beating the crap out of the control panel.

"NOW EJECTING." The computer's voice filtered through the noise.

Goofy sweat-dropped again as his seatbelt became unfastened and the doors to the ship flew wide open. The last thing he heard before being forcefully thrown out of his seat was Donald's enraged and panicked cry of, "YOU BRAT!!!"

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

"Do you know what you have to do?"

Aquamarine eyes narrowed in annoyance, "Yes."

"I'm trusting you with this..._mission_. Don't fail me." The last part was said as a threat.

"Hmm."

"He should be there by now. Go."

Silver hair whipped around as it's owner disappeared in a flash of dark energy leaving behind a smirking silhouette as she looked into a crystal ball, overseeing the events as they unfolded.

"Perfect." she purred. Everything was going according to plan.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

"Ow..." Sora groaned and slowly sat up. He rubbed the back of his head and winced when he felt something wet on his hand. He pulled his hand back to take a look and frowned when he saw that it was slightly covered in blood. "Well...this sucks." he muttered and tried to look around.

Trees.

That's all he saw. He was surrounded by trees and as far as he could tell there was no road anywhere. "Great...where the heck am I?" he asked out loud as he stood up and winced when he noticed the movement made him see small lights.

"I think the better question here is, _who_ the heck are you?"

Sora whirled around, a huge mistake seeing as that action made him lose his balance and fall back once again. The voice turned into many as Sora tried his best to look for it. They suddenly stopped and Sora very nearly called the Keyblade as a figure emerged from the trees. Sora raised an eyebrow as the figure came into the light and he was able to see exactly who it was.

The stranger had on black pants and a dark green jacket over another black shirt. He wore sandals and half his was covered with a mask, his only visible eye seeming bored and interested as he took Sora's appearance in as well. The man, like Sora, had gravity defying hair in the shape of spikes, the only difference lying in the color; the man's being a silver.

"Yo." the stranger greeted and even his voice sounded uninterested. Sora felt himself roll his eyes as he looked at the surrounding trees and wondered who else was watching seeing as he heard more than one voice speaking before. "Hey, kid. Just how did you get all the way out here...? Did you lose mommy and daddy somewhere?"

Sora quickly grew annoyed with the man's condescending tone, "You're nothing but a jerk." Sora stated.

He almost laughed as the man's one visible eye widened and the masked stretched slightly letting Sora know the man was gaping. Through the trees a loud laugh was heard quickly followed by a lighter chuckle.

The man quickly composed himself and narrowed his eye on Sora who was now openly glaring, "Do you have..._any_ idea as to who _I _am?" he asked.

Sora snorted, "Some jerk who finds pleasure in making everyone else miserable? I dunno, but it's a valid observation considering."

"Let it go Kakashi-sensei. He is after all, just a kid." Sora turned his head and saw a girl jump down from a tree. She had pink bubblegum hair and was dressed in red/black attire. Her bright green eyes narrowed on the silver haired man whom merely shrugged.

"Yeah! Sakura-chan is right! He can't possibly be a danger! Tsunade-baa-san must be drunk to think so!" Sora was almost blinded by what the third member of the party wore as he too jumped into the clearing. It was predominately orange, set off by his bright, gravity defying spiky, yellow hair. There was some black to it however and the feature that stood out most were the blonde's bright blue eyes and three little scars on both sides of his face.

_Blonde hair._

_Bright blue eyes._

_Spiky hair._

_Silver hair._

Sora felt the memories right on the tip of his mind but the harder he tried to reach them, the farther they seemed to drift. Finally they left altogether and Sora sighed. He faintly recollected the king's letter and the contents of which contained the information of him having two brothers. He very faintly and somewhat amused wondered if this blonde was related to him. He then remembered the king asking him not to search for his family in fear of putting them in danger and Sora pushed away his curiosity and speculation.

"Er...have you seen--" Sora cut himself off. He remembered Donald's yells and insults and promptly frowned. This was fine. Sora could go on his own if they didn't want him. Sora could save all the worlds be himself! Hopefully...

"Seen what!?" the blonde asked as he neared his face closer and Sora's eye twitched as the blonde invaded his bubble. The girl rolled her eyes before smacking the blonde to the side causing him to fall and land besides Sora who winced at the action. That looked like it hurt. The blonde sat up and glared while rubbing the back of his head.

"Naruto! Be serious!" she reprimanded and the blonde looked sheepish. The girl then looked behind her and seemed slightly impatient. She waited for second before she fisted her hands and turned back to yell, "Sasuke! Come out already! It's just a kid!"

Sora was getting quite tired of being called "kid". It was degrading considering he'd been raised more or less like royalty his whole life...

'Sasuke' jumped down from another tree but unlike the rest of the group, he hung back and gave a few glances, mostly towards the blonde and Sora. As for appearance, Sasuke had both black eyes and black hair which sorta reminded Sora of a duck's butt... His outfit consisted of black pants and a white hakama type thing... He had a sword attached to his hip and he was more or less glaring at everything, Sora included.

"What village are you affiliated with?" the man, now known as Kakashi, asked him.

Sora blinked, "Er...village...?" he honestly had no idea what they were referring too and he was betting that his simple explanation of, '_I'm not from any village! Heck! I'm not even from your world!_' wouldn't exactly bide very well for him. "Um...heh. You see...there's a very good answer to your question..."

The four strangers in front of him raised an eyebrow. Kakashi spoke however, "Really? Let's hear it then." he said, quite jovially, as he seemed to smile rather smugly behind his mask.

Sora audibly swallowed, "Er...I'm...kinda lost..." he glanced at his blood smeared hand. "And bleeding..."

The girl, Sakura, leaned down and tilted his head to the side. She looked him over for another minute before pulling back. She turned to her teammates, "He's hurt. Not badly but still... I don't think he's in alliance with those black creatures. He doesn't even have a chakra signature!"

The quiet black haired stranger, Sasuke, spoke for the first time then, "We should take him regardless. Hokage-sama then will decide what she will do with him." Sora gave a nervous smile as all four eyed him for a moment more before the blonde one, Naruto, offered his hand. Sora hesitated before taking it. He was quite shocked however as they quickly bound his hands together and proceeded to drag him along like a common hostage or criminal.

"This completely blows..." Sora didn't bother hiding his discomfort or annoyance and only the girl offered him something of an apologetic smile.

They walked for what seemed like hours, probably seeming prolonged due to the fact that Sora's head was now throbbing painfully and each stop jostled his poor head into more pain, until they reached a huge set of gates. Sora didn't bother hiding his very slight awe and from the corner of his eye he saw Kakashi give him a slightly suspicious look. Sora, feeling very childish and annoyed, simply stuck out his tongue at the older man and went back to ignoring him.

They quickly headed to some tower, Kakashi going ahead to inform somebody or other of their coming. During the duration of their whole trip, the blonde, Naruto began to chat animatedly with Sora. Rambling on about different things and how after 'Tsunade-baa-san' cleared him, they'd go and eat some ramen, a mission Naruto seemed very determined at seeing as how Sora mentioned he'd never even heard of that food before.

Sora for the most part was feeling very jilted. The least they've could've done was wrap his head in bandages or something!

Finally arriving at some large wooden doors, they stepped through and Sora had to hold back a laugh. A blonde, heavy chested, woman was currently having a very loud and heated argument with none other than Donald, who was tied up in a chair and looking very much like he wanted to go on a homicidal rampage starting with the woman that was yelling at him.

"Listen hear you overgrown goose! I'm the damned Hokage and I can very well DO WHATEVER THE HELL I WANT!" the woman roared and the bottle of sake she was currently waving around was crushed into little pieces.

Donald began to sputter and rage and became very unintelligible as he turned an ugly shade of puce. He began to rock and tilt the chair to the point that he looked like he was jumping up and down with it. It looked so hilariously funny that Sora couldn't help but double over and begin to laugh. Naruto quickly joined in, both of them leaning into each other for support. Sora noticed several others in the room (each of which looked like they either wanted to laugh or walk away).

Goofy (who was not tied up) sauntered over to Sora and shook his head in exasperation. "Golly Sora...heaven's to Betsy you're okay...er..." Sora felt a hand at the back of his head and heard Goofy gasp. "Sora! You're bleeding!"

That seemed to stop Donald's rant as he gave the brunette a worried glance. "Bleeding?"

Sora stopped laughing and stood up straight. He found it funny he was seeing double. "Yeah..."

The blonde woman looked their way and raised an eyebrow before looking towards Kakashi, who was leaning up against the wall reading a small orange book and dismissing everything around him. "Hey! Is this the kid? Why didn't you treat him?" she looked over to Sakura then, who blushed a pretty pink.

"Sorry Hokage-sama! I didn't think it was that bad!" Sakura almost whimpered.

Hokage-sama snorted, "Whatever. Who are you and how did you get here!?" she asked Sora instead. "Well!?" she demanded after Sora only gave her a blank look.

"Er...eh...I...don't...know...?" he replied lamely and he saw Donald give him an incredulous look as if questioning his stupidity at the current moment.

"You. Don't. Know." the woman stated, her eye twitching, and a vein throbbing near her forehead. "Fine then. Throw them in with Ibiki! Let's see if he can get them to talk!"

Sora didn't know what an 'Ibiki' was but was certain it wasn't anything good by the way the blonde woman's eye glinted evilly and Naruto gave him a despairing look.

"Er! Wait!" Sora squeaked as he somehow evaded a brown haired man with a long scar running across his nose. "Let me explain! I'm the—OOMPH!"

Sora had been unceremoniously tackled by Naruto whom gave him a small 'Sorry' in return. Sora was hauled to his feet and saw that Donald and Goofy were being detained as well.

"Wait!" Sora yelled as he was being dragged away. "I'm the Keyblade Master! I came to help!"

He saw a few of them people in the room snicker and throw him odd looks. Kakashi gave a snort and patted his head, "Right. Let's master your way down to Ibiki where—"

"Stop." everyone turned to stare at the blonde woman who was eying Sora and his two companions oddly if a bit startled and slightly awed. "Keyblade...Master...?" she muttered and went behind her desk and sat down. She eyed them a bit more before narrowing her eyes, "Prove it." she waved for the two men holding Sora to let go and they did. Sora was pushed to the middle of the room.

"Alright then." Sora mumbled and began to prove it the only way he knew how. He sighed and called the Keyblade to him. The key like weapon glinted as it appeared in the brunette's hand and Sora waved it around a bit so the woman could see it. She gaped a little before smirking.

"Alright then. You're free of all charges. But in return you have to help us. According to all the records I've inherited by past Hokages you're the only one who _can_ help. Welcome to Konoha Keyblade Master."

Sora felt like he had walked into a trap.

"SEE!? I TOLD YOU!" Donald screeched and was dropped to the floor by the man holding him.

"A-hyuck! Of course we'll help! That's why we're here for, ain't that right Sora!?" Goofy smiled at the young brunette whom very much looked like a deer in the headlights.

"...Right..." Sora agreed halfheartedly. "We'll help..." It's not like they had a choice...

"YES! Come on!! To the ramen stand!" Naruto whooped. "Er...are you okay...? You're paler than Sasuke-teme..."

Sora felt his vision leave him, "Crap..." he groaned before he felt the ground rush up to meet him.

~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x~

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Twilight Solstice


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